Why do Japanese people call KFC "Kentucky" ?

[Davey]

I also always call KFC Kentucky.

Btw people, there are people who can not read hiragana, katana, and most not even Kanji.. so please think about that people too. thank you!

 

[Glenn]

Btw people, there are people who can not read hiragana, katana, and most not even Kanji.. so please think about that people too. thank you!

Sometimes that's hard to remember. I'll want to gloss a kanji coumpound with hiragana for my friends who don't know any Japanese sometimes just because it always clears things up for me, and it can be hard to get out of my head. I've forgotten what it's like for it all to look like chicken scratch.

What amuses me about KFCs in Japan are the statues of Col. Sanders. I never see them in the U.S.

I had no idea about that until I watched the first episode of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, where a young girl is looking through a trash pile for a statue of him (it sounded like they were calling him keita-kun, but I guess it was kenta-kun; that's embarassing...). That's pretty funny that they put statues of him in front of the stores (well, to me at least). It reminds me of the episode of "Family Guy" when Peter asks to meet the colonel.

 

[yukio_michael]

A friend of mine from Tokyo told me about one of the biggest events he remembers in Japan, was that of the KFC 'Colonel' comming to Tokyo... it was apparently a big thing and attracted some huge crowd---

I remember, I had KFC on christmas day in Japan...

I think it's natural to use naturally-occuring Japanese, rather than roumaji, where much of our learning encourages us NOT to use and rely on roumaji... maybe when we use katakana etc, we should be encouraged to provide a roumaji translation...

 

[ArmandV]

A friend of mine from Tokyo told me about one of the biggest events he remembers in Japan, was that of the KFC 'Colonel' comming to Tokyo... it was apparently a big thing and attracted some huge crowd---

That had to have been many moons ago. The Colonel has been dead for years.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

Originally Posted by ArmandV
What amuses me about KFCs in Japan are the statues of Col. Sanders. I never see them in the U.S.

I didn't know that. We like that statue and call him "kentakkii no ojisan". Well, he's at least not that scary as "donarudo-kun" (the statue of the clown at McDonald's). It always reminds me of "It" by Stephen King...

Originally Posted by leonmarino
I still don't know what the word ﾂ坂?｡ﾆ坦ﾆ停? stands for! Anyone?

ﾂ坂?｡ﾆ坦ﾆ停??goukon) is an abbreviation for ﾂ坂?｡窶慊ｯﾆ坦ﾆ停?愴恥(goudou konpa).
My dictionary says ﾂ坂?｡窶慊ｯ(goudou) means:
amalgamation // association // coalescence // coalition // congruence // congruency // conjunction // consolidation // incorporation // joinder // merger // tie-up // trust joins
Now, ﾆ坦ﾆ停?愴恥(konpa) derives from an English word "company" with the meaning of ﾅ津ｰﾂ催?ﾅ津ｰ窶認(kouyuu/kousai).
It is a party in which two or more groups of young people join, as leonmarino san probably already knows, and I'm guessing he has joined lots of them!

Originally Posted by Dutch Baka
Btw people, there are people who can not read hiragana, katana, and most not even Kanji.. so please think about that people too. thank you!

Awwww! I'm afraid it's me who started it. *punches herself*
Gomennasai and I'll be more thoughtfull from now on.

 

[Glenn]

I didn't know that. We like that statue and call him "kentakkii no ojisan". Well, he's at least not that scary as "donarudo-kun" (the statue of the clown at McDonald's). It always reminds me of "It" by Stephen King...

No kidding! Clowns are just freaky! That's funny that it reminds you of Stephen King's "It." "It" was never made visible, was it?

 

[Davey]

Awwww! I'm afraid it's me who started it. *punches herself*
Gomennasai and I'll be more thoughtfull from now on.

*put some ice on Kyoko san her head, you don't have to punch yourself for this *

I , and others probably don't care when that it happen, but when it happens to much, it means that this people can not follow the thread anymore, and can't post in here!

It is a waste of time * okay fun to learn, but annoying* to make a whole list and ask you guys what this and that means in Kanji etc.

 

[Glenn]

ﾅ津ｰﾂ催?ﾅ津ｰ窶認(kouyuu/kousai).

Oh yeah, these are backwards.

ﾅ津ｰﾂ催 -- kousai
ﾅ津ｰ窶認 -- kouyuu

Sorry, just wanted to make that clear.

 

[Minty]

Because the real name as it appears on the signs is KFC ! I also call it KFC and so do most French speakers (probably speakers of other languages too).

Actually we don't have KFC in Strasbourg; people here don't really know what it is.

I saw one in Nice last time when my husband took me on a trip to visit his friend, but even his friend in Nice didn't know KFC.

The clients of the Fast-food industries here are usually kids and tourists.

Everybody here knows Mc Donald's though, and besides that we have ﾂ"Quickﾂ" a fast food company from Belgium.

@OP All over Asian people call Kentucky fried Chicken KFC, and often people say "Lets go eat at Kentucky's", the usage of KFC or Kentucky is not just in Japan.

In Chinese it is ﾂ肯ﾃｺﾂｺﾅ?ﾃｮ窶ｰﾃ?債?#38622; (KenDeJi Home smell good Chicken)
While the state Kentucky isﾂ肯窶愴椎?ﾃｮ (Ken DaJi), usually words are translated using the closest Chinese sounds available in the Chinese sound chart. But in short people just say KFC.

People in France called wedges country potatoes or American potatoes.

 

[bossel]

AFAIK Chinese ppl say "KFC" too.

In Chinese it is ﾂ肯ﾃｺﾂｺﾅ?ﾃｮ窶ｰﾃ?債?#38622; (KenDeJi Home smell good Chicken)
While the state Kentucky isﾂ肯窶愴椎?ﾃｮ (Ken DaJi), usually words are translated using the closest Chinese sounds available in the Chinese sound chart. But in short people just say KFC.

The Chinese I know all just say Kentucky. When my girlfriend 1st mentioned it, I didn't know what she meant (also because I've never eaten there). She on the other hand didn't know the abbreviation KFC.

 

[epigene]

The reason why KFC is "Kentucky" has already been stated, I think. So, I'll just add a little "unchiku (profound knowlege, otherwise known as trivia)" to that.

I'm old enough to remember 1970 when Kentucky Fried Chicken came to Japan (roughly the same time MacDonald's came to Japan). According to this, the name KFC was adopted in 1991:
Why Did 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' Change Their Name to 'KFC'?

The "Kentucky" name was firmly established for 20 years, and the Japanese subsidiary did little to change the name (considering the commercials they aired, calling itself "Kentucky" rather then KFC).

If I remember correctly, the Colonel Sanders statue started being set up when he came to promote the chain:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=126&article=24605&archive=true
He was a pop icon at that time.

 

[Glenn]

Ah, I was fooled by an urban legend! Oh well, now I know the real reason the name was changed. At least I was right about the change.

 

[ArmandV]

The state apparently didn't agree with KFC's old slogan, "More cluck for your buck!"

 

[ghettocities]

Yeah, Japan's re-wording doesn't halt my life or anything and I can understand some of the reasons why -- like in Street Fighter 2 (the video game,) M. Bison was no longer the boxer charecter's name because it sounded like Mike Tyson, right? And yeah I've called Super Mario Brothers just "Mario" a trillion times but someone mentioned "saaty-one" or "31" and when I first heard saaty-one I remember spending a good half an hour (the car trip over to one,) trying to figure out in my mind what I had just agreed to go to. Ah Japan, so many surprises.

Josh

 

[leonmarino]

Excuse me for being stupid but what on earth is "saaty-one"?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Excuse me for being stupid but what on earth is "saaty-one"?

31 Or more precisely, ﾆ探ﾂーﾆ弾ﾆ達ﾆ陳照停? , right?

 

[leonmarino]

Yeah sure but what does 31 mean?

 

[RockLee]

Yeah sure but what does 31 mean?

Baskin Robbins 31 flavors

Baskin-Robbins - Wikipedia ;-)

 

[Davey]

Pretty cute logo

 

[Mycernius]

I just call it inedible. Can't stand KFC. The buckets probably got more taste and probably better for you.

 

[Kyoko_desu]

31!

Let me show you why we call Baskin Robbins saaty-wan.
http://www.31ice.co.jp/brj/index.htm
http://www.31ice.co.jp/brj/htm/cm3_bw.htm
See? The name "Baskin Robbins" is written in English and is not really mentioned in Japanese. It always says just ﾆ探ﾂーﾆ弾ﾆ達ﾆ陳照停?愴但ﾆ辰ﾆ湛ﾆ誰ﾆ椎?ﾂーﾆ停ぎ(saaty wan aisu kuriimu) here.

Mmmm, I'm getting hungry for Rum Raisin ice cream. It's been always my fav...

 

[Kakulin]

Does anyone know the reason behind
every Japanese person calling Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC just the word "Kentucky." Or does anyone know the reason why Japanese people call Baskin Robbins 31 flavors "Thirty one" , or why Japanese people call French Fries "Potato". And the list goes on! Now with the clues I've set out for myself it would seem that the Japanese people re-word words over the whole L's for R's madness or to shorten up a would be waste of time but there are things like Wendy's in Japan having "Super value meal" and they don't call that just "super" etc.etc. , What's the deal? What kind of logic is this?! I don't understand it when Japanese girls ask me if I "want to eat Kentucky" , Kentucky is a state and states aren't edible.
Josh

I think that only continental U.S. americans call it like that. In Puerto Rico we use the same abreviations that you say the Japanese do. So it is not only the Japanese that call KFC Kentucky and all that. For example when I'm going to eat at KFC in my island I say: "Voy pa' Kentucky" which translated to english literally means "Going to Kentucky". Everyone understands that i'm going to the restaurant and not the US state. Same thing applies for the french fries and every thing else. When I want french fries I say: "Quiero papas" which translated to english literally means "want potatoes". Etc. etc.

 

[bighair]

We used to call KFC "the grease bucket".....

 

[Minty]

The Chinese I know all just say Kentucky. When my girlfriend 1st mentioned it, I didn't know what she meant (also because I've never eaten there). She on the other hand didn't know the abbreviation KFC.

Hi Bossel, you know come to think of it, I thinkﾂ肯ﾃｺﾂｺﾅ?ﾃｮKen De Ji home smell good chicken is the commercial slogan they used in Chinese, the name of the KFC brand is justﾂ肯ﾃｺﾂｺﾅ?ﾃｮKen De Ji which is Kentucky in English. However I saw this slogan in M'sia though. And I mean the mandarin commercial of KFC, because in M'sia there are always commercials in 3 languages, possibly four, don't quite remember, but I only recall 3 Malay, Chinese and English (at least the last time I checked it was like this). Yes it must be the regional differences in the Chinese commercial campaigns for KFC in different parts of the world.

 

[kaistuck]

lol, I just moved to Japan back in April (don't know much Japanese, but I'm learning), and I grew up in Kentucky. My dad and I went to KFC last week and it actually had a statue of Colonel Sanders!!! I've never seen one of those, not even back home in Kentucky. We actually lived just a couple miles from where Colonel Sanders lived before he died, but still, I've never seen a STATUE of him!